'teiid' originates from New Latin, specifically the family name 'Teiidae' (formed from the genus name 'Teius'), where 'Teius' was used as a Latinized genus name in scientific taxonomy.

'teiid' changed from the New Latin family name 'Teiidae' (used in scientific Latin) into the English adjectival and nominal form 'teiid' through zoological usage and literature.

Initially, it referred specifically to members of the New Latin taxonomic group 'Teiidae'; over time the English form 'teiid' has come to mean both the noun for a member of that family and an adjective meaning 'relating to that family.'